“There are no industry secrets. We can always meet our life partner out in the wild or swiping on apps, but the happy ending to a first date is not the second date. It’s changing each other’s diapers and burying each other. You’re looking for a nursing home partner and a grave buddy. Who our partner is, it determines our whole life and how we live not for one, two, ten years, but forever.”
Celine Song delivers her second feature film from the director’s chair. She returns to basically the same themes of a woman trying to decide her romantic destiny between two men, but this isn’t the same film as Past Lives. Materialists is a much more serious film, while still playing in the same gene pool as the rom-com. I don’t think you’ll find yourself laughing in this one, and it’s a rather clever way of presenting those same themes and ideas. In Materialists, we’re introduced to romance being distilled down to a mathematical equation. I expect that’s not very clever, as computerized dating has been around since the 70’s, but Song attempts to put more of a human element into those equations. It’s AI without the AI. Marvel fans will appreciate that the three leads here are Chris Evans (Captain America), Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic) and Dakota Johnson (Madam Web). It wasn’t likely intentional, but if it was, it wasn’t a terrible idea.“One day, for no reason in particular, you two will start to hate each other. You’ll resent each other, you’ll take each other for granted. You’ll stop having sex, somehow manage to make a couple of kids. And then you’ll get sick of each other, and one of you will cheat on the other. And then you’ll fight. At first, not in front of the kids, but then in front of the kids. And then you resent the kids for seeing you fight. And then you file for divorce, and you fight about who owns what and who gets the kids when until it’s all over.”
Song begins her film by channeling Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick and 2001: A Space Odyssey. We’re brought into a Grand Canyon-like wilderness where a caveman is courting a cavewoman. He brings flowers and a flower ring and the rest is (thankfully) left to our imagination. It’s intended to both provide a stark contrast to the rituals of the modern world and to let us know that at its core the courtship routine hasn’t changed that much. It’s a rather interesting choice. I’m not sure it honestly adds anything here, but then again, I’m not the one doing the math.
Lucy (Johnson) is the one doing the math. She works at a dating service called Adore. They promise a unique and more personal experience than the apps or computer services. We know she’s very good at her job because she’s attending the wedding of the ninth couple she put together that led to marriage. We don’t know how long she’s been at it. We suspect a good while, and we know she makes 80 grand a year. Song never tells us exactly how much Adore charges for their services, but it’s likely a pretty big nut. At the reception she has two encounters that will drive the film’s narrative. The groom’s brother, Harry (Pascal) takes an interest in her as she is using the event to recruit new clients. She finds him interesting enough, but warns him that the math won’t work between them. She also encounters a guy she dated for five years many years ago. He’s not exactly a guest. He’s working as a server. That is John (Evans), and through flashbacks we are shown why they once split up. Somebody call Isosceles, because I think we have a triangle here, and the film’s narrative is fully set up. That’s really all you need to know here. I don’t want to spoil your experience by telling you what happens here, because that is the key to your entertainment value.
“You say you think I’m smart, but you’re talking to me like I’m a caveman. I wouldn’t date you if I didn’t see value. I’m not like my brother; I’m not looking for the nicest, prettiest rich girl who likes me back. I’m looking for someone who understands the game, how the world works. I’m looking for someone I respect. And trust. Someone who knows more than me. I don’t want to date you for your material assets … though I think you’re underselling them by a significant margin. Material assets are cheap; they don’t last. I want to be with you for your intangible assets. Those are good investments. They don’t degrade. They only get sharper.”
The film is a bit long and hefty for the traditional rom-com. Again, I’m not sure the label applies, but it’s the one Song uses to describe the film. The length might try your patience, because we’re basically going through the boxes of the genre’s formula just as Adore uses boxes to check off the qualifications of each date match. You have the reluctant lovers and the usual crises of confidence for Lucy. There are several of the dates performed for us, and I will warn you that she uses that formula to throw a couple of huge red herrings our way, but that doesn’t mean the film’s solution will be that surprising. It might have been in keeping with her fresh angles here to go against what we expect in the end.
I have to give Song credit for the fact that she shot this movie on 35mm film, and that organic look truly brings out the organic nature of the environments. She’s faithful to that “big city” look, and the environments become the fourth character in the film. I like the way she uses locations and their own unique lighting and sounds to build an atmosphere here that I feel will be lost on too many filmmakers. I implore you to take the time and smell the car exhaust here. It will only add to the experience.
Celine Song is a one-woman wrecking crew here. She wrote, directed, and produced the film. She knows this stuff because she also worked as a matchmaker in her earlier life. I guess that gives the material a better feeling of authenticity here, and I’m left wondering what specific scenes or situations are lifted from her own life in the field. I suspect there’s more than a few of those moments here, and all of that builds toward a pretty well put together film. I’m not a fan of the genre, so I won’t try to bore you with my biased issues with the film. If this is your genre, I think you’ll find you’re in pretty good hands. “You know how to do the math, don’t you?”
